Will Paint for Tuition: Student Gets Creative to Pay for School

It’s an understatement to say that, for many students, making tuition payments is quite a feat. And, when the going gets tough, it’s easy to quit.

Add additional hardships on top of that? It would seem even easier.

Not for Noah King Hamilton.

Student artist and freshman at Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia, Noah was faced with the very situation many Fastweb users deal with on a daily basis.

After starting college, with a school scholarship, the school informed him that his tuition was not paid in full as he had been previously told.

Since his tuition was only partially paid, he would owe an additional $13,000.

He could have given up at that point, but he didn’t.

According to the story on his Will Paint for Tuition fundraising page, Noah, 18, went back to the school and requested that they increase his scholarship amount. The school obliged (ask and you shall receive – schools often are willing to help out) and increased the scholarship amount as much as they were able.

Unfortunately, the school had a certain monetary amount allotted for scholarships each semester and the rest of the funding had already been distributed to other students, so that was the best they could do.

The additional funding reduced his balance from $13,000 to $7,000. Not bad, but he still owed $7,000 that he didn’t have.

The school explained to Noah that he would be able to finish his current semester, but would not be able to return for spring semester if the balance was not paid in full.

Instead of giving up, Noah planned to return to his local grocery store job in attempts to save the additional money to pay for school.

At this point, it’s also worth mentioning that at the same time all of this was going on, Noah’s mother, Jane, was in and out of the hospital with medical issues, which eventually led to the loss of her job.

Not wanting her to worry about his situation on top of her own, he kept his financial troubles a secret.

Eventually, as most good moms do, Noah’s mom discovered the truth about her son’s situation.

After learning that her son might have to leave school to raise funds to attend school, she took action with a brilliant plan to tell her son’s story.

Using her idea as a springboard, Noah began to offer one-of-a-kind pieces of artwork to his supports in exchange for help with his tuition payments. He believed that people who donated to help him should receive something in return.

On the fundraising site, they listed out suggested offerings, including a marker caricature for $25; a design (desktop background, logo, tattoo, T-shirt) for $50; an original commissioned charcoal portrait for $100 and more.

In less than a month, Noah returned to Temple with more than $8,000, ready to pay for school.

He also has plenty of commissioned work ahead, which will help him with future tuition payments.

The moral of the story?

You can always find ways to pay for school. You just need to think creatively, use your resources and talents and be willing to work hard for it. Above all, never give up – anything is possible if you want it enough.